Basic vocabulary, like knowing prepositions, is necessary for beginning readers. Teach prepositions with this simple game.

So many ways to explore some extra creativity! These fun art challenges are perfect for kids and adults to stretch their imaginations!

Learn about famous art and create your own sculpture with this fun lesson about Giacometti.

60+ Must Make Kindergarten Anchor Charts for the classroom. Covers classroom management, literacy and math. Multiple ideas!

Teach your child to recognize and read consonant digraphs /th/, /sh/, and /ch/ with a digraph garden!

Classroom Reading Organization Tips for guided reading groups, reading lessons and how to make your reading instruction more than manageable!

Have you ever had a class that just tried your patience day after day? Have you ever felt like you could walk away from teaching forever tom...

These fun reading games are quick to make - and so effective for learners in kindergarten and first grade! Such a great addition to your language arts instruction. #teachingreading #kindergarten #firstgrade

K-1 POETRY UNIT I love teaching poetry to kindergarten and first grade students! Even though I have this labeled as Unit 8 in my Writing Series , I actually teach poetry throughout the entire year. We follow the same routine and students look forward to our poetry week every month.

Looking for an easy and fun teaching idea for your students to practice their vocabulary words? My students loved it and never realized they were learning! This strategy can work for any grade, from kindergarten to high school!

Have a child learning to read? Try this missing sounds reading activity to work on decoding skills. A hands-on, phonics based reading game.

Past, present, and future.

Today I wanted to stop by and share some strategies for teaching vowel teams and diphthongs in our classroom! It’s always challenging to teach spelling patterns that aren’t easily decodable! […]

This post will give you more than 360 pages of 1st grade common core language arts worksheets with answer keys and posters to help your students learn!

A musical masterpiece is a simple lesson that combines music and art to create a collaborative lesson that embeds acceptance and kindness.

Cultivate lifelong reading skills.

Here's a list of fun activities you can do with preschool and kindergarten using rhythm sticks!

If you need a writing anchor chart to help your students with visual references, this post has 9 must-make anchor charts to boost your writers.

Here are some developmental writing rubrics and standards or expectations-based rubrics for kindergarten teachers.

Y'all my office smells like something died. Seriously! It started about two weeks ago. I walked in and got hit with a pretty putrid smel...

Cultivate lifelong reading skills.

I created this culture jars art lesson for an Art and World Cultures class, and continue to use it in art classes because it is so well received. The word

I had sooooooo much fun doing this monster art project in my son Elliot's kindergarten class recently! I chose to do this project because Elliot LOVES monsters and he LOVES using his imagination to make characters come to life. We have enjoyed using popsicle stick puppets for many many years and he always enjoys both creating

My favorite teaching units are my research and rhetorical analysis unit. I love teaching rhetorical analysis and assigning students a rhetorical analysis PAPA square. Read on to learn more about the rhetorical analysis PAPA square activity and to sign up to receive your own free copy! I love providing my students with the knowledge and resources they need to critically read and analyze text, know why it is powerful, and understand how the author crafted it. I feel that truly understanding the language and the text, primarily through rhetorical analysis, is something that makes all of my students critical thinkers.

This is a visual for how students work their way up the Reading Ladder. Kindergarten is working within the levels 1 and 2 throughout the year. When working with your child, please focus on these skills so that they have a solid reading foundation. Success is earned and needs to be worked for. Thank you to Katelyn's Learning Studio for this amazing resource.

Decoding drills for building fluency helps students apply phonics skills when reading. Perfect warm ups and a great tracking tool, too.

If you need a writing anchor chart to help your students with visual references, this post has 9 must-make anchor charts to boost your writers.

Los pronombres posesivos en inglés (Possessive Pronouns) demuestran una posesión sobre algo o pertenencia. Ejemplos y ejercicios nivel básico.

A few years ago, our school implemented "voice levels" as a way to help at assemblies, in hallways, and within our classrooms. This has really helped with consistency across the grade levels and made the first few weeks of school even easier when introducing these concepts. In our school, if a teacher needs to get students' attention, he/she will hold up our hand in the shape of a zero. If kids are working in small groups and are getting a little noisy, I would hold up two fingers to remind them it was "Voice Level 2". When we create presentation rubrics, we always include "Voice Level 3" as an area to focus on. In the beginning of the year, when we are making our Daily 5 Anchor Charts around expectations, Voice Levels 0, 1, and 2 always make an appearance. I have loved thinking of Voice Level 1 (whisper) as "Spy Talk"! In the past, I have used the fingers-on-the-voicebox trick~ if it vibrates, it's not Voice Level 1~ but the idea of talking like a spy is soooooo much more fun! This year, I ask my Teacher's Assistant to help be my Voice Level Monitor. If they feel it is getting too noisy, they will assist me in showing the appropriate voice level with our finger(s). Here is the file for the poster (I recently changed over my font, so it looks slightly different). **UPDATE: If you like this idea, you will love my new Voice Levels Management Pack available on TpT! Be sure to download the Preview to see everything that's included and read my updated post HERE for more info! Enjoy!

Did you know you could turn milk into plastic? I didn't. I had no idea! I did know that you can turn cream into butter, which is just what I was planning on doing with one of my Kindergarten classes back when I taught in the classroom. We love easy science experiments! There I was,

Why do young children often do much worse on writing tests at school than they do at home? This is a very frustrating thing for many...

How do you stop students from blurting out in the classroom? Do you have some processes in place to curb blurting, but they're just not working for you

Teach children the basics to paint like Pollock in just 40 minutes. Great for grades K-2, kids learn new techniques with paint, yarn and becoming fearless

Every great reader has their beginnings in sounding out words!

Use the train analogy to teach students about subjects and predicates! This blog post contains an anchor chart and several matching activities.

All the pieces that make up a story.

We are doing first grade phonics now. Get ready to learn and do all of the activities I think everyone will enjoy!

Story retelling is an ongoing core kindergarten skill and takes place when a student is able to comprehend a story and retell it in their own words. A retell should include key details like characters, the setting, the problem, main events (BME) and solution of the story. Kindergarten students do most story retells from listening to a story read aloud. Because of this, I feel it’s super important to select high quality and engaging texts to help develop a real love for reading. For me, I’m drawn to a silly or feel good story that opens up the floor for a great conversation. I want it to be a memorable and lovable story that they'll want to tell and retell! My Master's is actually in Library Science, so I'm extremely passionate about book selection AND story retelling for littles. So much that... I've married them into a series of monthly retelling activities, using high quality picture books, that work perfect in a kindergarten and first grade classroom. Pre, During and After Reading: Set your students up for success! Book talk the text prior to reading. When reading, an interactive read aloud goes along way with comprehension, I love to occasionally stop and really dig into an illustration or get student input when reading aloud. Whether you retell on day one or later, your kiddos will need to recall key details, and I love doing it with multiple and varied exposure using a single story. Retelling Hand: I like to start and review with a retelling visual like the retelling hand! You can grab a free retelling hand by clicking here. Review the parts of a story retell and then give the kiddos time to "turn and talk" to recall information in the story together. Retell Games: I love board games and just games in general. They're engaging, casual and get you TALKING and moving a little bit! After the kiddos have spent time with a partner, I like to take it up a notch and retell it in a gaming setting. My retelling activities generally include a low-prep game to help the kiddos start chatting alongside some visual support. Anchor Chart: Shared Writing and Sequence: After double exposure with a buddy, it's time to come together and discuss the retell. Review and record the characters and setting. For the sequence portion, students will help you order the events. Once the events have been sequenced, students will help come up with the beginning, middle and end to wrap up the retell (great shared writing practice). If you're looking for interactive writing opportunities, scripting the BME sentences would also be a great way for students to come up and assist with writing. The picture card activity works great on chart paper, a pocket chart or even repurposed later on using a pocket chart in a literacy center. *all corresponding activities can be found here. The Retelling CRAFT or Printable Option: To offer a chance for independent practice, the story craft or cut & paste printable will allow the individual student to practice sequence and retelling the story at their own pace and sharpen fine motor skills. I've always told my students a retell activity is a keepsake... because it's almost like you're taking the book home to read it to a loved one. This retell activity supports the mentor text Florette by Anna Walker. *all corresponding activities can be found here. Written Expression: The written and illustrated graphic organizer is another way for students to show their comprehension of the story after reading and practice writing. If you're making a follow-up literacy center with the picture cards in a pocket chart, this printable (or any of the others within the kit) would be a great add-on. For more retell activities, click here!

K-1 POETRY UNIT I love teaching poetry to kindergarten and first grade students! Even though I have this labeled as Unit 8 in my Writing Series , I actually teach poetry throughout the entire year. We follow the same routine and students look forward to our poetry week every month.

These fun reading games are quick to make - and so effective for learners in kindergarten and first grade! Such a great addition to your language arts instruction. #teachingreading #kindergarten #firstgrade

Prefixes and suffixes in first grade? Kindergarten ? What?! I'm not sure who decided teaching them so early was the way to go but never fear...